3 Ways to Build A Better Brand

Are you in the process of building a new brand? Are you ready to refine an existing brand? Wherever you are in the process, get more clarity on your brand by asking yourself these questions:

What Do People Get Out of Working With Me? Figure out not what you do, not what service you provide, but how you improve people’s lives or businesses and the amazing results they get from working with you. Think about all of the times when friends or family asked you to help them. What do they ask you to do? What do they always say that you’re really good at? What do they count on you for? Look at past examples of paid or non-paid work experiences when you felt that you were at your best. What did you do in those situations that made such a big difference? A few of my things – I demystify social media and personal branding, I show clients how to present themselves in order to get more clients, I give clients clarity of their offer, value and pricing so that they can make more money. See how those are all about what value the client gets at the end, not so much about me?

Who Do I Help? Marketing to the masses never works as well as marketing to a tightly defined market. You may have a niche market and not even know about it. Â Who do you find yourself most often attracted to or compelled to help? Who is most attracted to you? And who do you most enjoy working with? (This part is important to me – I believe that you can and should build your business around helping people you love working with, and who love working with you. Think of all the fun you will have!)

When Am I In “My Zone”? You know that feeling you get when you’ve put something incredible out in the world? Whether or not it made you any money – but it existed at that oh so elusive place where skill, passion and purpose meet? What are you physically doing when this happens? For me, I have always gotten into my zone by writing. And as time has gone on, talking with people one on one or in small groups has gotten me there. What are you doing when you’re in your zone? Are you speaking, writing, designing or training? Are you talking to groups or in front of big crowds? Are you building something? Are you working alone solving a problem that you later present to the client? Or do you work alongside people to help them reach the answer themselves?

If you can honestly answer these three simple questions, you can begin branding yourself and your business with more clarity than ever before. Check out my website, millerlittlejohnmedia.com, for a summer web giveaways: my free personal branding workbook that will help you define, refine and promote your brand online.

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Amanda Miller Littlejohn is an idea oven and brand problem solver working at the intersection of public relations, journalism, marketing and social media. A former journalist, she is the founder of Mopwater Social Public Relations. Specializing in new media and online communications, Amanda helps individuals, businesses, and organizations leverage social media to create exciting, effective campaigns.
Amanda helps nonprofits and small businesses use social media and garner publicity, resulting in fundraising success and increased sales. She coaches executives one-on-one to develop more effective online brands, resulting in better jobs and more client offers.
Amanda lives in Washington, DC, blogs at Mopwater PR + Media Notes and tweets @amandamogul.